Policy 4: Academic Organization and Program Planning

4.A.1 Administration and Governance

The dean shall be the principal academic and administrative officer of a school or college, and the presiding officer for faculty meetings of the school or college.

Each dean shall be responsible for matters at the school or college level including but not limited to enforcement of admission requirements; the efficiency of departments and other divisions within the school or college; budgetary planning and allocation of funds; faculty assignments and workload; recommendations on personnel actions; curriculum planning; academic advising accountability and reporting.

Departments and programs within a school or college shall develop their working structures and rules, subject to the approval of the dean and provost and in accordance with policies established by the Board of Regents.

Regent Law 5.E.5 specifies the shared governance principles of participation. A school or college faculty shall collaborate with the dean in the shared governance of the school or college. Subject to specific Board of Regents requirements, voting membership of a school or college faculty shall be determined by its faculty.

History:

• Adopted as Policy 4.A: Administration and Governance of Academic Units, June 15, 2017, but did not become effective until the related administrative policy statements (APSs) were implemented on January 1, 2018.
  • NOTE: Policy 4.A and 4.B were the result of significant changes to both the structure and content of the previous versions of Article 4, Policy 4 and related policies.
• Last reviewed January 1, 2018.

4.B.1 Academic Program Review

Review of all degree programs shall be conducted at least once every seven years within an established timetable. As appropriate, professional accreditation processes may be used to meet some, or all, program review requirements. Professional accreditation processes may require adjustments to the seven-year time period. The Board shall receive an annual report on program review activities and, where appropriate, recommendations for Board action.

4.B.2 Notification of Accreditation Status Change

The president and chancellors shall notify the Board of Regents of any change in the status of institutional accreditation or a change to the accreditation status of a degree program, department, or other unit that results in probation or loss of accreditation.

4.B.3 Proposals for Academic Units, Degree Programs, and Other Credentials

Each campus shall have processes for the development of proposals for new academic units, new degree programs, and other credentials that are consistent with the corresponding Administrative Policy Statement.

Each campus shall have a process for name changes of academic units or degree programs. Name changes shall be approved by the Chancellor and communicated to the Board of Regents through the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

4.B.4 Academic Unit and Degree Program Discontinuance

Upon recommendation by the chancellor, the Board of Regents may discontinue a regent approved academic unit or degree program for educational, strategic realignment, resource allocation, or financial reasons, or a combination of these reasons.

A recommendation to terminate an academic unit or degree program shall only be made in collaboration with the faculty and administration of the degree program or academic unit, and provost.

Each campus shall have processes for the discontinuance of academic units or degree programs that are consistent with those provided in the corresponding Administrative Policy Statement.

Upon a decision by the Board of Regents to terminate a degree program, every reasonable effort will be made to allow students to complete their degrees. Termination of appointments of tenured or tenure track faculty that occur as the result of formal discontinuance of an academic unit or degree program shall follow procedures detailed in Appendix 4.1.

4.B.5 Records of Degree Completions

The campus registrars shall maintain the official records of the candidates to whom degrees are awarded.

The conferring of degrees and the issuance of academic transcripts may be withheld for failure to meet financial obligations to the university.

4.B.6 Degree Revocation

Upon recommendation of the faculty and the chancellor, the Board of Regents may revoke a degree if it is discovered that degree requirements were not satisfied due to academic misconduct or administrative error. Procedures for revoking a degree shall be consistent with the corresponding Administrative Policy Statement.

History:

• Adopted as Policy 4.B: Academic Planning and Accountability, June 15, 2017, but did not become effective until the related administrative policy statements (APSs) were implemented on January 1, 2018.
  • NOTE: Policy 4.A and 4.B were the result of significant changes to both the structure and content of the previous versions of Article 4, Policy 4 and related policies.
• Last revised January 1, 2018.

NOTE: Policies governing the dismissal of faculty as a result of academic unit or degree program discontinuance will be moved to the Faculty section of Regent Law and Policy. The following policy (formerly Regent Policy 4H) shall remain in effect until the laws and policies in the Faculty section have been revised and those changes have been reviewed by faculty governance groups and approved by the Board of Regents.

4.1.1Termination of Faculty

Termination of appointments of tenured or tenure track faculty may occur as the result of formal discontinuance of an academic program or department of instruction. Once a decision to terminate a program has been made, recommendations on termination of appointments of individual faculty members rostered in the organizational unit under review will be made by the chancellor in consultation with appropriate faculty members and administrators. All plans for termination of individual appointments will be reviewed and approved by the president and the Board of Regents prior to implementation. Unless there is a compelling academic reason to do otherwise, no appointment of a faculty member with tenure will be considered for termination until the appointments of faculty members in the unit without tenure have been considered for termination.

4.1.2 Notification to Faculty Members

Following formal approval of termination plans by the Board of Regents, one year's formal notice (the Notice Year) will be provided to tenured and tenure track faculty members whose appointments are to be terminated. For faculty members with nine-month contracts, the year's notice will commence at the beginning of the academic year following formal approval by the Board. For faculty members with twelve-month contracts, the year’s notice will commence at the beginning of the fiscal year following formal approval by the Board. Timing for phasing out programs and displacing faculty members will be based on institutional needs, including analysis of reasonable time for enrolled students to complete their degree programs.

4.1.3 Obligations to Tenured Faculty

Before terminating the appointment of a faculty member with tenure because of program discontinuance, reasonable efforts will be made to find another suitable position for the faculty member within the university. Inter-departmental or inter-campus transfers may be made only if mutually acceptable. Retraining for faculty members during the Notice Year should be provided under the sponsorship of the campus where the program is discontinued if, in the judgment of the university and the faculty member, such retraining will prepare the faculty member for another suitable University of Colorado position. Any retraining opportunities shall not interfere with the faculty member’s assigned teaching and other professional obligations during the Notice Year. Faculty members meeting age and service requirements as specified in university policy have the option to retire.

4.1.4 Severance Pay

After exhaustion of the options in 4.1.3 above, the tenured faculty member may be terminated involuntarily and with applicable severance pay. Faculty members who elect to resign or retire from the university may not receive severance pay. In order to be eligible for severance pay, faculty members must fulfill their assigned teaching and other professional obligations throughout the Notice Year.

Upon termination, severance pay in the amount of base salary for one academic year will be provided to faculty members with 9-month contracts and for one fiscal year to faculty members with 12-month contracts by the campus where the program is discontinued.

4.15 Reinstatement Rights of Tenured Faculty

If a program is reinstated within three years at the campus where it was discontinued, tenured faculty members who were terminated will have a right to reinstatement, provided positions are available and the position is substantially similar in responsibilities to the one previously held by the faculty member.

4.1.6 Notification, Rights and Options of Tenure Track Faculty

After the Board of Regents formally approves the termination of a program and the program discontinuance plan, the campus shall provide those tenure track faculty identified in the plan for termination with at least one year of notice before termination.

4.1.7 Other Rights of All Faculty

A faculty member who is terminated for reasons of program discontinuance will be eligible to participate in the university group insurance program for 18 months following the date of termination under the conditions of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) if the faculty member is enrolled in the university’s group insurance program at the time of termination.

Faculty members will be provided counseling regarding employment opportunities outside of the university if they request it.

A faculty member whose appointment is terminated for reasons of program discontinuance has the right to appeal denial of specified rights to the committee on privilege and tenure under established policies and procedures.

4.1.8 Role of Faculty Council Personnel Committee

The Faculty Council Personnel Committee will monitor the efforts made by the university to find suitable positions for displaced faculty members within the university and make recommendations as appropriate to the Faculty Council.

History:

• Adopted December 16, 1982.
• Revised November 21, 1986; March 19, 1998; June 2, 2004; June 22, 2009; June 15, 2017, but did not become effective until the related administrative policy statements (APSs) were implemented on January 1, 2018; Appendix 4.1 renumbered on February 12, 2018 from the previous Regent Policy 4.H..
• Last Reviewed January 1, 2018.